Ridley Scott's "Prometheus" is one of the hottest projects to keep an eye on in 2012, no doubt about it. But among the film's many merits—including Scott's much awaited return to science fiction and a stellar cast that includes Charlize Theron and Michael Fassbender—there is one nagging question… is this movie an "Alien" prequel or not?

"Prometheus" stars Fassbender and Noomi Rapace have both confirmed the "Alien" connection, but it's the word "prequel" that has some folks still scratching their heads. But there's at least one person connected to "Prometheus" who doesn't view it as an "Alien" prequel at all: none other than Fox Filmed Entertainment CEO Tom Rothman.

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"It is not [an 'Alien' prequel]. It's not," Rothman passionately defended when MTV News pressed him on the question at the Gotham Awards this week. "Hand on heart."

When we pointed out that "Prometheus" taking place in the same universe as "Alien" and existing before that first movie technically qualifies it as a sequel, Rothman offered: "I suppose if you want to definitionally be that literal, but it does it a great disservice. I will tell you, here's the way to think about it. If you looked at the whole movie, 95 percent of it is entirely unto itself. Ridley said it right: If you're a fan and you look closely, you'll spot strands of DNA."

"The quality of the visuals is as spectacularly beautiful, shot in 3-D compositionally the way only a master could do it," Rothman said. "For some early, early, early, early half-baked, half-assed test to leak, it's so unfair."

Do you think "Prometheus" is a prequel to the "Alien" films or not? Let us know in the comments and on Twitter, and keep the conversation going with me @roundhoward!